Name Origin, etc?
If these cool looking little plant eaters come from Colombia, how’d they
get the
“Columbian” name. We’re
“Columbia, gem of
the ocean” aren’t we. At least we were when we learned that
song back in fourth grade. Let’s call the little raspers ColOmbian
ramshorns. Okay? And
“ramshorn” comes from the shape of those
horns you saw in last year’s Mountain Dew commercials and you still see
in Dodge commercials.

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Regular ramshorns -- including this albino version -- rarely grow to an
inch.

Not Your Normal
Ramshorns. The Colombian
name also distinguishes them from the harmless brown/black/red (or in the
pic above, albino) ramshorn
snails that magically appear in our aquaria. The latter are
relatively harmless to plants. Not so the former.

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This flap protects Colombian ramshorns when bumped or when put into crummy water.

Water Conditions.
If you drop your ramshorn in the tank and it closes up, keep your eye (both if
you have the time) on
it. If it (the snail) stays closed more than 24 hours, move it to another
tank. Something in the water (or a tank mate) does not agree with your new
guest. Water or pest? Machts nichts which. Move it.

Pesterers. Lots of
critters bug snails. Cichlids like the crunch -- and probably the taste. Clown loaches shuck
them like oysters. Livebearers pick at their edges -- even under one inch
guppies. Turtles and
crayfish also eat them. Life ain’t easy for a Colombian ramshorn snail.

Soft Water. Snails
have a common problem in soft water. Their mostly lime shells dissolve.
They have no way to stop this. Remember: Only you can prevent forest
fires and shell erosion. Drop in one of those vacation fish feeder
blocks. The plaster of Paris in them might do the trick. But
probably not.

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Many different colors exist in the Colombian ramshorn tribe. Most are
white sidewalls.

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Lotsa variety in the treads on these white sidewalls. Looks like
Tires Plus.

White Sidewalls.
Another sobriquet for your Colombian ramshorn is the white sidewall
ramshorn -- so named for the stripe along usually just one side. Not
a bad name. Some are right-handed, some ...

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Whether this is right or left, the whole herd is the same.

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We'll scrape the inside front glass with a razor and see what happens to
this algae.

Algae Eaters?
Yes, but ... Colombian ramshorns eat algae and any other green
plants in your aquaria (other than plastic, of course). The hungry
little devils even eat duckweed. See the pics below.

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Two Colombian ramshorn snails getting together on their first date.

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Whilst nibbling on duckweed, she/he's starting to kick out a blob of eggs.

Breeding. By
now, you’re probably old enough to handle the fact that many snails are
hermaphroditic. They just swap sperm with a fellow Colombian
ramshorn. Some food and time later and voilá, as the French
say, you have zee oeuf, er, zee eggs.

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Colombian ramshorn eggs attached to a Styrofoam cup are hard to see..

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Still hard to see here. Compare their size to the duckweed leaves.

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Much easier to see on this wood -- 24 hours old.

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Tiny blob of eggs -- maybe 10.

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Ramshorn snail eggs are fairly good sized. These are a week old.

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Another two weeks later they're close to hatching. You can see the
baby snails.

Zee Eggs.
Colombian ramshorn snails lay their eggs in a blob often larger than the snail that
produced it. Evidently the gelatinous blob absorbs water as the eggs
are expelled by the snail. The blob protects the eggs from most
predators -- including other snails. Snails are great egg
eaters. However, not many critters want to mess with these
unappealing blobs. Crayfish
might be the one exception. As time and a half passes,
you can see the little snails developing within the eggs. If you
want to rear your babies away from their parents (good idea), move them in
the blob. Newly hatched snails have fragile shells which makes
them difficult to round up and herd together.

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Eggs attached to airline tubing. Another blob was on the stem.

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Moving the eggs. They ARE sticky.

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Nice and observable here.

Plant Eaters? You
betchum, Red Ryder. If given no choice, all snails will eat plants. So
will you. Colombian ramshorn snails even eat sponge filters. They much prefer fish
food. In the absence of fish food, they will eat algae AND plants.
Colombian ramshorns devour plants regardless of the food supply. Do
not put Colombian ramshorns with any plant you want to survive.
These devoted plant eaters will even eat water hyacinths.

Not Air Breathers.
Apple snails (including mystery
snails) run a snorkel up to the surface to
suck in atmospheric O2. Colombian ramshorns get all the O2
they need from their water -- just like the trapdoors.

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He cants to the side. He's a bit off plumb. Somewhat of a
sidewinder.